Will an Injury Attorney Agree to Take Your Case and Represent You?
Imagine that you are in an accident, and one that was caused by someone else’s carelessness. You do the right thing, and seek out a personal injury attorney, to try to help you with your case. But to your surprise, the attorney opts not to represent you. This seems odd to you—why would an attorney not want to represent an injured victim?
As it turns out, personal injury attorneys don’t take every case that comes to them, and there are things that injury attorneys will look at when deciding whether or not to accept a case, and represent a victim.
Keep Trying
Before explaining what an attorney will look at to see if he or she wants to represent you, it’s important to remember one thing: Every attorney is different, and may have different opinions about a case.
Often, one, two, or even more attorneys will reject a case, before another accepts it. Don’t assume that just because one attorney didn’t want to represent you, that you “don’t have a good case.” It’s always best to try another attorney, to find one that may see something of value in your case that others didn’t.
Who is Liable?
Your attorney looks at the same thing you do—is someone actually liable for the accident? Is there someone who did something wrong, to cause your accident and injury?
This is sometimes an easy analysis, such as when someone runs a red light and hits you in an intersection. But sometimes it isn’t so easy. Sometimes, there are arguments that will be made by the other side, that may make it difficult to prove a case.
That doesn’t mean that an attorney won’t take your case, just because it may be difficult to prove. It is just one factor that the attorney will look at when evaluating your case.
How Injured Are You?
The extent of your injury will matter as well. Sometimes, this isn’t completely obvious at the time you first see an injury attorney. Many injuries are slow to develop, or it isn’t clear how much you will heal after an accident, or if you will heal at all after an accident.
Despite the uncertainty, your attorney will still try to do a preliminary evaluation of your injuries, to get a rough estimate of how much compensation you may be able to receive in your case.
Did You Do Anything Wrong?
Your behavior in the accident matters as well. If you did something to cause or contribute to your accident, your attorney will look at this as well, because it is something that a jury, at trial, will be allowed to look at. If the attorney feels that you may have been too responsible for the accident or your injuries, there is the chance that he or she may not take your case.
Call our Boston personal injury attorneys at The Law Office of Joseph Linnehan, Jr. today at 617-275-4200 for an initial evaluation of your case, and a consultation about what you can expect in your personal injury case.
Sources:
justia.com/trials-litigation/docs/personal-injury-damages/
alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/types-of-compensation.html
